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Rival groups battle over proposed Greek Grand Prix

October 11, 2012

A turf war of sorts is developing over Greece's dreams of a Formula One race in that country in 2016. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

The Greek government’s decision to invest heavily in the construction of a new Formula One circuit, near the port of Patras, has sparked a furious response from the business consortium behind a similar project in Piraeus, an Athens suburb.

The Piraeus consortium, which trades as DielpisF1, has formalized its bid through ELPA, Greece’s national motorsports body, and has already received a personal nod from F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone. It has issued a statement denying that its rival, Avtokinitodromio Patras, can claim any candidacy for a Greek Grand Prix. One of the founders of DielpisF1 accused the partners in Avtokinitodromio Patras, which include a number of local civic bodies, of using “organized disinformation” to attract investors.

As already reported by Autoweek (Oct. 5), the Ministry of Regional Development in Athens has committed a subsidy of $37.5 million toward the $122-million budget of Avtokinitodromio Patras, which intends to build the track in Xalandritsa, a Patras suburb about 130 miles from Athens. However, DielpisF1 has been working for a long while on a project adjacent to Piraeus, which lies on the outskirts of the capital. This project is based on a big, disused industrial site on the coast in the municipality of Keratsini-Drapetsona, only 30 miles from Athens International Airport.

In its statement, DielpisF1 said, “DielpisF1 rebuts all recent articles in the Greek and foreign press concerning Formula One races in Greece, and more specifically in Patras.”

Greece is hoping to have a suitable racing facility ready in time to host Formula One by 2016.

“The circuit to be built there will meet Formula One specifications but without fulfilling certain preconditions, such as access, accommodation, services, character and so on, and has never requested to be included in such [Formula One] events.

“The official Greek candidacy is DielpisF1, [which] involves the port of Piraeus. This proposal constitutes a private initiative and investment that not only will not burden the Greek citizens but will also create benefits for them. Through the mayor of the Drapetsonas-Keratsini municipality, it has been officially submitted by ELPA to the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone.

“On May 26, 2012, in a meeting with the head of DielpisF1, Mr. Ecclestone stated his agreement in principle with this proposal and mentioned that the next step was simply to secure investors. On July 26, 2012, the competent minister of culture sent Mr. Ecclestone the government’s official position with regard to the DielpisF1 candidacy.

“On Sept. 3, 2012, the deputy minister of development formally expressed his ministry’s support of the DielpisF1 candidacy. Therefore, there is no other candidacy for Formula One races in Greece.

“At the present time, we are in contact with interested investors and we believe that soon this procedure will be completed so that the Greek dream of hosting Formula One races in the port of Piraeus will come true.”

Athanasios P. Papatheodorou, an Athens architect who has designed the Piraeus venue, added, “There has been organized disinformation, giving people the wrong impression that a Formula One track is to be created at Xalandritsa. Some reports have even said that Bernie Ecclestone has given his consent and abandoned our project at Keratsini-Drapetsona.

“All this publicity has not happened by chance. We believe it has been motivated by the founders of the Xalandritsa project in order to raise the funds that they need in addition to the state’s share of their construction costs.

“We invite everyone involved in the Xalandritsa project to directly deny all false reports in the Greek and international press, and to prove that they were not involved in this organized disinformation.”